Heartfelt Ponderings
by Kit-Kit-Em
Summary: Judy doesn't understand how she feels. Wildehopps :)
Looking up at the night sky, Judy sighed at the beauty before her. The way they twinkled in and out of existence, only to reappear again. She leant back in her car seat, thinking back to the day's events. Nick became a cop, the first fox on the force! She never felt so proud for her friend. She couldn't help the grin she gave him as she pinned his badge to his uniform, _his new uniform,_ and watching his lips twitch into one of his own.

Then later that day they got invited to watch Gazelle perform, _live_ , in concert. Judy was so excited, which made Nick feel obligated to feel happy for her as well.

Witnessing all that made her so happy.

The next day, they had their first assignment, courtesy of Chief Bogo. Tracking down a 'boy-racer' down the streets.

Their banter in the jeep beforehand would have made anyone's day.

So why was she on her own?

Nick.

She needed space.

Don't get her wrong. He was her best friend, partner, brother in arms… but every time he smiled at her, looked at her with half-lidded eyes…

It made her uncomfortable.. in a weird way.

She couldn't explain why her heart thudded in her chest, why her face lit up with a grin as he grinned at her, why she wanted to hug him all the time.

But it really was the banter that set her off. Of course, when an officer is on duty you have to switch off and do your job. So she put it in the back of her mind.

" _You're sure you're okay to drive?" Nick wiggled his eyebrows at her whilst enjoying a paw shaped ice-pop._

 _Judy put her foot on the brake, making Nick lurch forward. 'Ha! Make fun of my driving skills?'_

" _Sly rabbit." Nick smirked as he pulled the ice-pop from his eye._

" _Dumb fox." She retaliated with a unapologetic smirk. She grinned as he chuckled._

" _But that's why you love me!" He jested looking at her with a tilt of his head. She supposed he was trying to go for the innocent 'Don't-Get-Mad-I-Love-You-You-Love-Me-Really' face. But her heart did leaps for joy without her permission. Her mouth moved before she could realise what she was saying._

" _Do I? Yes... yes I do."_

Judy laughed to herself, banter or not it still made her smile. She knew that much.

But also at the concert, she was so happy to be there. Bouncing to the beat, looking like a few months old kit. But when she looked over, Nick looked at her with his smug, half-lidded _sexy_ look. It made her heart flutter and her breath hitch, it hurt.

She tried to enjoy herself, she truly tried to.

When Judy saw a chance she slunked away out of the concert.

She climbed into a taxi and told him to take her home. Once there, she got into her uniform and took her jeep for a ride. She might be off duty, but atleast she would be left alone for a little while.

Now she was sat in her jeep park in a car park near Tusundra in the Rainforest district.

She needed to think over what was happening to her. Just like if she was on a case.

Why did she, prey, have these sort of feelings for a predator, like Nick? She wasn't scared of him, she doubt she ever could be. Maybe she would have been all those years ago, when she was just a kit dealing with the number one bully, Gideon Grey.

But she was a tough bunny, she can handle them now.

But Nick? He was just banter… right? Just a friend… right? Weren't interspecies relationships looked down upon?

She sighed again. What would she say to him, if he understood what she wanted to say. How would he take it?

The knock on her window snapped her out of her thoughts violently. What was that, who was that? She looked to her left and saw a figure in the darkness with a flashlight in hand, blocking her line of sight to see who it was.

She rolled down her window and a voice spoke up.

"Excuse me ma'am, I'm afraid this car park is closed. It is considered an offense if you stayed after closing hours. I'm afraid I will have to issue a fine." The smug voice made her laugh but she relaxed instantly.

"Geez Nick, you scared me!" The flashlight lowered a little and she saw the foxes green eyes before she saw his uniform and smirk.

"You were the one that barrelled out of the concert suddenly, Carrots." Nick grinned, but it instantly became concerned. "What's wrong?"

Judy got defensive instantly, but tried to play it off.

"I'm fine, I'm… I just wanted some space. Some quiet time, you know?" Nick looked at her like he smelled the bull from a mile off.

Judy grinned nervously.

"Jude, common." Nick moved to the other side of the jeep and climbed in. He looked at her, straight in the eye.

"What's wrong?" He asked again, this time with strong finality. Judy was caught between a rock and a hard place. But the look on Nick's face said he was serious and would find out anyway.

Judy looked defeated.

"I don't know what to do…" She finally admitted. She looked at her paws in her lap.

"About what?" Nick pushed gently, which caught Judy off guard. She looked at him, expecting something she didn't know. Instead she found a sympathetic look.

"Tell me, what's eatin' you? What caused you to run?"

Judy felt her eyes water.

"I.." Judy felt his paw upon hers. She felt her tears overflow her lashes, making her whiskers wet.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." Nick squeezed her paws and waited for her to explain more.

"I feel strange… like my heart is going to give out, I struggle to breathe, my face always heats up… I feel tingly… in here," She places a paw to her chest, "I've never felt like this before." Nick tried not to smile, truly he did. But he knew what she was talking about, she was sure.

"Sounds like someone is in love…" The doe looked at Nick with an incredulous look. Love? It couldn't be… but it made sense…

"Who makes you feel this way?" Nick pushes for an answer, like he's searching for it. Judy didn't know what to say… she couldn't tell him… she couldn't.

Her friendship with him, her working relationship with him… it could be damaged beyond repair if she told him.

"Hey, it's me… what am I going to do? You could've arrested me for tax evasion… but you didn't. You didn't give up on me, when everyone else did. You didn't look down on me, like everyone did. Common, I don't do emotions, you know that. But when someone close to me is hurting… I need to fix it. Even if it isn't my fault. And you're-"

"I love you." Judy looked away, afraid of rejection from her first and closest friend.

What she didn't expect was the heartfelt laughter from the passenger seat. At first she felt that he was laughing at her until…

"About time you admitted it properly, Carrots. Geez, I thought something really bad happened!"

Judy looked at the fox with a disbelieving look. He didn't mind?

"I thought I was the only one…" Nick whispered to her when he calmed down. Judy was trying to cry all over again.

"No one knows me like you do.. and I don't want anyone else to know me like that…" He smiled at her.

"Nick…" She was flabbergasted. What did this mean?

"What I'm trying to say is… I love you too, you dumb bunny!" He laughed at her, she gasped.

She didn't need to think any more, so she leapt from her seat and scrambled into his lap, kissing him soundly.

To hell with what people would say about interspecies relationships, to hell with what people would say about prey and predator being together.

"Sly fox.." She said inbetween kisses, which made the tod chuckle.

All that mattered… was the two of them.


End file.
